And Still

Nothing still happened today. After overtime, I ran by the store and picked up a piece of furniture, a bread pan, and some crickets. I searched the toy store for a part for my project, but I couldn't find anything suitable. I'll have to make it tomorrow.

When I got home, Roomie was on her way to the car, saying she was going to run by the store and make chicken alfredo for dinner. We trekked over to the Safeway and got some dinner supplies, and what I needed for bread that I will make this weekend. We had a late night in front of surgery shows and yummy dinner.

What's the point of living closer to work if I can't stay up late like this once in a while, right?!

Nothing Happened

After my overtime today, that is. I need to run by the store, but I just didn't want to. I'll have to do that tomorrow though, the dragons are out of crickets. I did pay a few bills and did a little work on my project. This was the write-up part, when I describe what I did and how long it took at each step. I still have those details to finish, and I'll probably get to those tomorrow. We'll see. Working overtime doesn't leave me with a whole lot of energy to do things in the evening. It'd be better if I could come in early, but I finished all my work today and no one was there who could give me more.

That's what happens when you're just that good.

I Know the Time

Roomie and I took in two movies this evening while I worked on my project. There are a couple details I want to add, but I could technically call it done at this point (21.5 hours of work). I'll probably finish with the last little bits tomorrow, well in time for the entry deadline. Yahoo!

I was busy sewing and Roomie got in a little late, so we had a lazy dinner (aka pizza) and didn't go for a walk. Maybe tomorrow after my overtime.

Pictures will come later, I'm off to bed!

Out and About

Roomie and I both skipped our work outs for the day. We were tired, it happens. So, we watched a movie while we ate dinner and when it was over, took a good two and a half mile walk around the area. We found a few playgrounds, a park that is a lot bigger than it looks from the road, and tons of paths through the trees. I really enjoy living here.

I didn't work on my project at all today, but I'm sure I'll finish it in time.

Counting Hours

I've been sewing like a mad fool. I'm actually getting close to being done with my contest entry. It's likely I'll finish this week (which is great, the deadline is August 18th). For those of you who want to know, I'm already looking at 17.5 hours of work. And counting....

Danger

Dréa is fully aware of the dragons. For a time, she didn't really pay any attention to them. Recently, she's been jumping on the small cabinet I have them on, and spending some time sitting on their tank. I came home Thursday to find the tank had shifted a little bit on the cabinet. I went to work yesterday a little concerned; if Dréa knocks the tank over and the dragons get out, they're as good as dead. Thankfully, she did not knock over the tank yesterday.

I visited my godson for the first time today. He's so very cute, and almost two weeks old. I watched some movies with LDS, met her roommates, and ended up spending all day there. It was just fine, because my own roommate was having a dinner party. While it's perfectly fine that I be home during it, I wanted to not be around anyway. It worked out.

When I got home, the first thing Roomie said was, "don't freak out, everything is fine." I knew what she was going to tell me next: either Dréa knocked over the tank but it didn't open, or that she knocked over the tank and the dragons got out but have been recovered. It turns out the former was true. She had knocked the whole tank off the cabinet, and it just fell straight down. It didn't tip, it didn't turn over, it just fell. The dragons were unhappy and a little shaken, but appeared to be intact. Somehow, I knew that was going to happen.

We decided to get them on a larger surface, so if Dréa wanted to sit behind the tank, it wouldn't fall off (we suspect that's what she was trying to do). I moved them to the dresser, and the few things on the dresser to the much smaller cabinet. Miss Luna can still sleep on the dresser (and she was a little confused about why the dragons were there and not the lamp and jewelry box), and we're hoping that Dréa won't venture far enough into the room to try to get up there.

I hope this works.

And, Han,

Happy Birthday!

Today

Can't type, sewing.

Just Because We Don't Know

Doesn't mean we can't celebrate anyway!

We got Callie and Miss Luna around the same time of year (years apart, mind you, but the same time-ish). They were both about six months old at the time that we got them. Six months back put them born sometime in July, and 24 is my favorite number.

I don't know the actual date of either birth, because they were strays and it's impossible to know without knowing someone who was there to witness it. But I can guesstimate, which resulted in picking a day and putting the two together for the ease of it. For all intents and purposes, we celebrate the birthdays of the kitties on this day.

And now, time for a short funny story! Miss Luna and one of my roommates cats, Dréa, don't get along very well. Dréa hisses and growls, and lies in wait at Roomie's door just so she can hiss and growl when Miss Luna comes near. I have a small, barely adequate door stop that keeps my door from closing (it will close on its own if a cat touches it, and you know they rub up against the edge all the time). I don't know how or when it happened, but when I came home yesterday, I found Dréa and Miss Luna trapped in my room! Dréa ran out so fast when I opened that door. Miss Luna just whimpered. They were trapped for who knows how long together! Poor girls!

I love my furry friends, and I hope they have many more years in good or better health.

Happy birthdays, Callie and Miss Luna!

Help Me Welcome

My second godson, Marcus! He is the cutest little baby I have ever seen.

May the world grant this new life the brightest of bright blessings!

Introducing

My new godson, Marcus Richard. He was born at 21 inches, 7 lbs and 11 ounces. LDS is as happy as can be, but has been very tired (which is why she just now sent me a picture).

Is he not the cutest little godson you ever did see? I'm hoping to be able to visit this weekend.

Time Time Time

Isn't it always that there's never enough of it?

One of my favorite web comics is running a fan art contest right now, and I'm buzzing with ideas. Some of what I want to do just isn't possible because of what I have available to me (I still couldn't bring my clay from the house because it would have baked in the car during my grandmother's party). I need to run by the store today, so I might be able to pick something up that I can work with.

And in addition to this contest, which I only want to do because my creative blender seems to be on puree right now, I have some more crochet pieces I'm working on. I'm holding out for the perfect yarn for one of them, and slowly getting the others done. I don't want to tell you what it is yet, not until they're done! It's a set, and they're just not complete until they're together. I've also been making spirit dolls, which my roommate has been encouraging me to sell (a spirit doll is a doll of any material, that embodies something you wish to gain or take into yourself: a quality, idea, protection, etc). I have a couple that I've already made that I hope to get pictures for you soon. I want an inventory before I decide to put them up where people could buy them. Roomie and I have also been talking about making and selling drums, which sounds like great fun to me! And I have a few malas waiting to be made, which Roomie and I may also be commissioned to do for a local life coach.

In addition to all of this, that story I had mentioned a while ago has been coming along nicely.

I tell you, I'm not lacking for inspiration, and it's wonderful! All I need is a little extra time.

Almost a Century

My grandmother, for all her health complaints, is really an amazing woman. She still lives on her own, though she relies a lot on the people around her for help. And yesterday, I got to meet a lot of those wonderful people who help her out. She is a kind and charitable person, and I hope she sees many more years in comfort and in good company.

Happy 90th birthday, Grandma!

Wimps

Everyone except for Fae and I wimped out of the pool by 2100, an early evening by this party's standards. Fae and I swam for another two hours. We started our own game of volley ball, then played a little pool baseball (that really wore me out!) and then went back to volley ball. I only got out because I noticed dad was falling asleep among the dry wimps who were busy chatting, so it was time to take him home. I'm really surprised that only two of us kept swimming. In years past, there's usually been a group at least floating about into the night (I didn't make it last year, so I'm not sure how late the swimmers swam). I was a tiny bit sore this morning.

This morning was a flurry in itself. I had a handful of big, bulky things (like garden chairs to put on the balcony) to load, then it was off to my Grandmother's 90th birthday party. She had a lot of friends from church over, in addition to my family and my mother's siblings and spouse (oh, and my aunt's friends too). It was fun, there was cake and fruit and I ate a lot of it.

I got home around 1630 and very slowly unloaded the car. It was hot! Now, I think a short movie and a little brandy before bed will be just right.

A New Place

After I got home yesterday, we loaded the kayaks on the cars and went to see Journey to the Center of the Earth. The theater we went to wasn't showing it in 3D, and you could tell the parts where that would be a nice effect, but it was quite good. I think we all enjoyed it. I've wanted to read some Jules Verne for a while now, I need to just order some books!

Despite our best efforts, we did not meet Fox at the landing at Governor’s Bridge at 0800 like we wanted. Sorry, Fox! Even so, we spent about two hours on the water. Mom and Fox and I scouted out this landing last fall, but we only just today made it there. This is a part of the Patuxent River that's quite a bit north from where we usually go.



Here we are, approaching Governor’s Bridge. A little further up, we passed under Route 50 (a major highway that leads from Ocean City all the way to Sacramento, though I've never been on that part of it). Shortly past 50 was a double-trunked tree partially submerged in the water, making that part of the river impassable without portaging. So, we headed back towards the landing and went the other way, down river.

On the way, we passed this awesome tree that looks like a knee. We joked it was a missing piece of The Awakening. A little further down, we encountered some rapid, shallow water that required us to get out and launch a little further up from it to get back to the landing. If it wasn't for the fact that we were going down river and we would have to go back up to get to our cars, I would have kept going south for a bit longer.

Now that everything is cleaned up, we're waiting for dad's laundry to dry, and then it's off to the annual pool party. I'd like a nap.

Full Buck Moon

This full moon was so named because bucks were growing new antlers at this time. It was also sometimes called the Thunder Moon, in reference to the many thunderstorms that tend to occur during this time of year.

I had a lot going on for this esbat. My roommate and I were going to hold a ritual together, to rededicate the charm bag I made in February. We decided to wait on that, possibly until next esbat, so I instead set the bag on my windowsill to let the moon cleanse it of the previous intent.

I also had been working on a project with a specific purpose. That purpose has changed dramatically over the past few weeks. That work was also left in moonlight to cleanse and make room for new intent.

After those were set, the real work began!

A new friend of mine had told me that she was not comfortable in her home. She and her husband had lived there for a few years, but it felt like his home, not hers. She did not complain much to him about it because he loved it, but she felt very uncomfortable and unsafe there. I offered to make a charm bag for her, and she acquired most of the ingredients. This will make it much more attuned to her.

I started this creating by gathering my supplies and casting my circle. I sewed a brown cotton bag, brown being the color of homes, with blue thread and a blue hemp drawstring, blue is good for promoting tranquility.

I first added my own ingredients: a hematite to absorb negativity; a carnelian for relaxation; a tiger's eye for grounding, protection, and to ward off ill wishes; and a clear quartz for balance and keeping the energy clean. I then added red rose petals for protection and happiness.

Next came the items that she had chosen: a lovely piece of kyanite for tranquility, cutting through fears, and grounding; a deep purple amethyst for protection and calming, and a mixture of lavender, sage, and rosemary for their protection and cleansing properties. The final touch was a shell that had been carved into a wave charm. She had thought of putting it in the bag, but I decided it would better serve it's purpose outside. I tied nine knots in a piece of white cotton cord for protection, and tied the wave charm to the bag with that.

I should be able to present her home tranquility charm bag to her at Lughnasadh if I don't see her sooner.

I hope all of you had a wonderfully productive esbat!

Take a Trip

Follow this train of thought if you can!

For the past few days, I've been sleeping a lot better than I have in a while. Part if it is due to not having to get up earlier for overtime (though I'm quite looking forward to that paycheck!). Miss Luna has been calmer, for the past two nights at least. She lays out on the bed sometimes. She never did that at my parent's house, and I really love it.

Even so, I'm exhausted. I think I lost a lot of sleep by not going to bed when I should and waking up early so, even though I'm sleeping better, it's going to take some time to catch up.

My grandmother's birthday is next week. My aunt is flying in from Utah tomorrow and she's going to stay with my parents for this visit (who have a shiny new security system, did I talk about that? I hope they let me in). I'm heading home tonight so we can load up the kayaks and be ready for a really early start tomorrow. Some of the people I work with at the Renaissance Festival are having their annual pool party tomorrow as well. And, Sunday is my grandmother's "party," which will involve dinner with the fam before I head home-home.

Since moving out, I've learned there are two homes. There's the home that I go to every night: where you hang your hat. And there's the home that once was where I hung my hat (yes, I have more than one hat; no, none of them are hanging; and yes, most of them are still at the old home): where the heart is. So, there's home (where the heart is) and home-home (where the hat hangs). Get it? This is what happens when I'm tired.

I was feeling bad that I wouldn't have anything for my grandmother for her birthday. I left a lot of my crafting items at home, but I did bring a fair compliment with me: the wood burner, Dremel tool, acrylic paint, some yarn, some fabric (not much thread, though), drawing tools (pencils, pens, charcoal, pastels, etc). I still need my clay, my soap molds, some more fabric, and the rest of the yarn. On Wednesday, I realized I had something after all.

I had bought a wooden cross with intention to burn or paint it for my grandmother and Aunt Betty for Christmas a couple years ago. Inspiration just wasn't coming then, so I made something else (a glass jar with paint that makes it look like stained glass like the door design I did for my mother - very cool and I think I still owe you a picture). Somehow, that cross managed to come with me with my other blank wood pieces. YESSSSS! I broke out the acrylic, put thoughts of flowers in my head and viola! I'm very happy with how it came out, and I'm very pleased that I have something for her.

I know she doesn't need anything, and I know she'll be happy just to have her family with her, but I also really enjoy making things for the people I love. I put thought into them: purpose, intention, attention, and time. I think those are precious things, both to give to others, and to be given myself.

Frienemies

TG told me a story this morning (that I respectfully will not repeat, it's not my story to tell), and coined this fabulous word. A frienemy is someone who acts like your friend to your face but really is not. It's the short way of saying "keep your friends close but your enemies closer." I love portmanteau words. Like frankenword, which is a portmanteau to describe a portmanteau!

When portmanteau words are actually frankenames, it's more derogatory (think Tomkat, Brangelina, or Billary). Though, frienemy isn't exactly a kind term either, though I'd sooner call those people pretenders.

I never took French, so I can't tell you what a portmanteau was before it started describing this kind of evolution of language. Look at that! A whole blog post (and I think blog, web + log, is a frankenword too) about words! Yes, I am a language geek.

And remember, you don't need friends when you can have frienemies!

PS: Fox, who is not a frienemy, told me about a new ice cream by the infamous Ben & Jerry: Goodbye Yellow Brickle Road! Sounds luscious! I hope it's enough of a hit that they market it outside of Vermont eventually. Mmmm brickle.....

Communication

I was driving to work in the wee hours of the morning, as has been the happening for the last week. Just before I turned onto the cut-through from the parkway to the highway, I glanced at a rather open area to my left. A break in the trees that exposes much of the sky. At that time of day, it was salmon pink with the promise of sun rising. If my life were a movie, that moment would have been accompanied by a chorus holding a glorious chord.

Every day should start that way. But now I know where to look.

Live and Learn

When are you gonna come down
When are you going to land
I should have stayed on the farm
I should have listened to my old man

You know you can't hold me forever
I didn't sign up with you
I'm not a present for your friends to open
This boy's too young to be singing the blues

So goodbye yellow brick road
Where the dogs of society howl
You can't plant me in your penthouse
I'm going back to my plough

Back to the howling old owl in the woods
Hunting the horny back toad
Oh I've finally decided my future lies
Beyond the yellow brick road

What do you think you'll do then
I bet that'll shoot down your plane
It'll take you a couple of vodka and tonics
To set you on your feet again

Maybe you'll get a replacement
There's plenty like me to be found
Mongrels who ain't got a penny
Sniffing for tidbits like you on the ground

So goodbye yellow brick road
Where the dogs of society howl
You can't plant me in your penthouse
I'm going back to my plough

Back to the howling old owl in the woods
Hunting the horny back toad
Oh I've finally decided my future lies
Beyond the yellow brick road

Occasion to Stop

One of my friends is having a baby. Probably at this very moment, or very soon. She has had many complications through her pregnancy (the least of which being going through the first six months not knowing she was pregnant). Last week, she told me that if she didn't give birth by the end of the week, they would induce labor on Monday, today. I think her official due date was to be some time next week, but she's been really struggling the past couple weeks.

She told me she was going to the hospital at 0800, and I promised to think of her and send her some Reiki to help when she got there. I noticed the time, while sitting here in the office, and stopped. I closed my eyes and started with Reiki. I felt my crown chakra, the one through which the Reiki energy enters, tingling. Even for a couple minutes, with the click of computer keys around me, I felt the divine energy flowing through me and to my friend and her soon-to-be-born son.

The sensations I get when working with Reiki energy never cease to surprise me. I've sent Reiki before when I was at work, but I have never felt so instantly and assuredly connected to the recipient as I did right now. I hope this will give me energy for my day as well. And I hope my friend has an exceptionally easy labor and a perfect little son when it is done. I'm waiting for that call.

Success!

My websites are back up! That was annoying!

I have a meeting with Adolf and one of the senior supervisors today. If it's not my annual review, they're going to chide me for snapping at Adolf last week in response to an e-mail about covering WAM's work, even though I wasn't asked to do so, the e-mail states "these need to be covered." Since I was already backing up the work of the other person in our three person group, I snapped. I am one person, I cannot do the job of three.

But, it may not be about that. It might just be the review. Which is better, but I still don't think that will be very good. We'll see.

Assurance

I didn't feel well today, so I decided to stay home and finish a project rather than go swimming with Pat. I did finish my project, that I had hoped to have ready in June. I'll have to send it for a different occasion. I'll get pictures up for you when I know the intended recipient has it.

Around 1530 or so, my roommate and I decided to take a nap. My roommate said there were two police cars in the parking lot; it looked like some problem with out downstairs neighbors. Police have been called for their disputes before. By the time we both were ready for our naps, there were three cars. About an hour and a half later (we were both awake by then), there was a knock at our door. It was the neighbors on our floor, telling us there was a problem with the downstairs folks and to just call the police if we seen anyone suspicious about. The problem had escalated to five police cars in the parking lot, and neighbors gossiping about someone coming after the resident with a gun.

GUN?!?!

The neighbors mentioned they have been here for two years and there has never been a problem, and that the downstairs peeps moved in shortly after we did. Hopefully they'll move out and take their troubles with them.

I'm going to be extra careful about the early overtime I've been working though. I tend to leave when no one's around. It was nice of the neighbors to let us know a bit more about what happened and that it's not typical of the area, and to be on the lookout.

I'm still not very worried.

Smoke Gets In Your Eyes

So, I got the protective eye shields, and that helped a lot!

Some time ago, my roommate found a nice branch of windfallen poplar. She made it staff length and sanded it very smooth. She told me it wasn't for her, and gave it to me. My task is to decorate it, carve it, burn it, paint it, and otherwise make it my own.

The bark at the base is shaped in such a way that it looks like a gate. I spend a good part of today burning a design around the gate. It's coming out looking rather nice, and we both love the smell of woodburning. But the smoke got in my eyes. A lot!

I bought the eye shields for when I worked with my rotary tool. It really helped with the smoke! I've only got one part of the staff burned, but I'll try to get pictures for you soon.

I do know that my websites are still down. It looks like they're going through the credit card validation (where they perform a few credit/debit transactions to make sure everything works), so maybe tomorrow or Monday will have everything running again. Now that I know there's a problem, I'm on it! The oddest thing, though, is that my e-mail never failed. If there was an interruption in my service due to billing, why would I still be able to access my e-mail? Well, if things don't get back up and running, I'll as them about that when I call to yell.

Oops

So, who wants to tell me how long my websites have been down? I just noticed this morning when I went to look for something. I've had no internet at home until recently, you know! People need to tell me when things stop working! GAH!!!!

Anyway, I suspect it's because I updated my address with my credit card biller, but I forgot to do that with the webhost. I've done that now and things should be back up in a few hours at most.

Please, if you try to go to either of my sites and find them still not working, let me know so I can chew someone out!!

Daydreaming A Little

It's probably due to my lack of sleep that the things around me are affecting me in strange ways.

I've been working on a story lately, and I'm really pleased with how it's going. I'm sure many hobbyist writers dream of publishing, I'm not different. I also dream of seeing one of my stories made into film (as long as I'm part of the creative process. NO ONE CORRUPTS MY VISION!!!). I discovered a web comic yesterday that's in a similar genre to what I'm writing (and the only reason I'm not linking it for you here is because I'm still experimenting and I'm not ready to share what I'm up to). I think it started in 2002, and it looks like it updates three times a week. I'm almost caught up. That part is definitely the lack of sleep bit!

In any event, it's making me day dream that I'm actually a decent artist and could draw my story instead of just write it. I'm not that kind of artist, however, so I know that's not really going to happen. But, between work and webcomic pages, I think of what it may look like in comic form. This is probably a good thing, because it leads to better visualization of the world I've created and the people in it, which helps in the writing and will help when I'm working on the film.


I've been working early overtime and getting to bed much later than I really should. So, I'm sure my dreams of turning my story into some kind of comic book are really induced by sleep deprivation, and the fact that the web comic that I'll finish today is pretty vivid. I stayed up two hours past when I should have gone to bed reading it. Yes. Sleep deprivation. That's what it is.

Maybe Not Today

Pat's neighborhood has a clubhouse with a pool. Every Tuesday and Thursday night, from 1700 to 2000, is adults only. That's so great that they do that. Sometimes adults just want to float around while kids are usually playing. It's nice that they set aside time for that.

We went swimming on Tuesday, and stayed for about an hour before we decided we needed dinner. We talked a little about work, and about making our way to Virginia Beach in the late summer. We've gone to Ocean City the past couple years, but since he doesn't have to drive out that way to pick me up anymore, we can hit some other beaches. He said he really enjoys Virginia Beach and knows where the good hotels are. I've never been there, so that should be fun. I don't know if we're going to get a King's Dominion trip in this year or not.

We were planning on swimming again today, but both of us have been working overtime so we might be too tired. And I'm not sure if the things I need to do at home should take precedence over a little evening swim with my friend. I'll play that by ear as the day moves on.

Roomie did come in at midnight and was talking away on her cell phone. That didn't leave me much sleeping. On the other hand, a little bit of pool floating might be just the kind of relaxation that both of us need today. We'll just have to see.

Something Else

Monday night, Roomie and I were talking about the crazy looking guys who expressed interest over the course of my weekend with that dating site. And, when I say they looked crazy, I mean homicidal maniac crazy (not to mention that half of them were as old or older than my dad).

I ran across another site today, which claimed to be completely free. I'm still wondering why I'm thinking about it at all.

Roomie is certain that I'm going to meet someone through that little group-thing that she is in. You know, that's what worked for her. I'm not holding my breath on that. I can name one instance where the hooked-up pair have since separated and one of them doesn't come around much anymore, most of the new members are married or partnered, and the gents that I have already met are unappealing. It's nice that it worked for her.

It's too late for me. I'm not going to spend my life waiting for someone who doesn't exist to come around. Even so, that doesn't stop me getting depressed about it.

If I'm going to die alone, what's the difference if I do it forty years from now or tomorrow?

And I haven't given up yet, isn't that the crazy thing? What do I have to give up anyway? I'll answer that for you dear blog readers: nothing. I can't give up, because I have nothing to give up.

I suppose there's something good in that.

Why Do I Bother?

I signed up for a dating site that I haven't previously tried last week. As soon as I was done, I wanted to cancel it. Why do I bother? I really don't want to spend the rest of my life alone wondering what the children I never had would have been like. I have no reason to believe I'm looking at anything but that. I cancelled that dating site thing last night. All of those things are scams to rend hard working people from their time and money.

My roommate and her boyfriend have been talking about buying a house and getting married when he moves back to the area next Spring. It would thoroughly suck to have this freedom for only a year and then find myself needing to move back in with my parents. I guess that will be the moment when I give them my cat and find a cardboard box under a bridge. The thing that I hate about living in this area is that I don't get paid enough to live in this area. I have a year to figure out what I'm going to do about that.

In other news, I'm keeping a list of all the things I contribute to our home (like the copper bottom pots and kitchen shears) so when the time does come, I know what's mine. I feel like I want to take half of my stuff back to my parents' house. It hardly seems worth it to have this for only a year.

Getting Some Zzz's

Or not.

Miss Luna kept me up rather thoroughly last night. I was also extremely tired from the weekend and the boxes of books and things I brought with me. She jumped on the drawer chest that is serving as my nightstand and proceeded to gently push the alarm clock towards the floor. That cat knows how much I would have liked to just not get up for work today!

I'm actually in for a little overtime, maybe. Daily stuff is coming in so slow that I might get everything done without needing overtime. It'd be nice for the extra cash, though.

Last Thursday was supposed to be a leave early day. We were given a list of things to do and a time we could leave if our list was done and nothing else was needed. WAM told another super that she was done around 1200, but ended up staying until 1400. She never talked to Adolf, who likely would have told her to help me. At 1530 (my regular leaving time) Adolf told me to go (as if I was going to stay past the normal time). Myself and another coworker were thoroughly pissed off that WAM left and didn't even bother to see if she could have helped me. If it were me, I would have been ordered to help her.

Then, she had the nerve to come up to me this morning and try to complain that Adolf gave her more work on top of the ton she already had to do. I told her she should have been here on Thursday (I know she was, but she might as well not been, given that she didn't make a move to help her team at all). She then tried to boo-hoo that she had to stay until 1400, and I told her I left at the regular time and to go away. She did. Good. I'm in no mood to feign sympathy to the fact that she actually has to do some work today and can't skip out leaving the only other person on her team here to fend for herself.

If that useless oxygen consumer stays away from me for an undetermined amount of time, it will be okay.

Better Than Anticipated

I really had no exposure to the TV show, but I do remember an endlessly rewound, recorded from TV, Beta tape of Get Smart, Again!. I retained more information about the show from that movie than even my parents remembered.

The new Get Smart was hilarious. Sure, they changed some things from the show (according to mother), but it was just great. Some parts had the small audience laughing into the next joke. That's the test of a good comedy, if you ask non-expert me. It looks like they left it open to do another. If that's in the plan, I hope this one did well enough in theaters to support it.

Dad ended up being too tired (he hasn't yet adjusted to getting up at 0530 even on weekends) so he stayed in bed while mom and I caught the flick. I'm glad we got a chance to see it.

This morning, since I didn't go home, we went to the Killarney House for breakfast and did some shopping at Trader Joe's. Afterwards, I finished packing and headed home. Han had called and made mention of coming to visit me, but it looks like that's not going to work out for today. Maybe later.

My poor roommate was busy moping. Her boyfriend just came by for a couple weeks and was driving back to Idaho early this morning. I find it a little ironic that her friends tease her (and him) about him currently living in Idaho, and now she's rooming with someone who's been there. He might be coming back in October and December, and she plans to visit him in the fall, so we tried to get her some comfort in that (with a little bit of chocolate therapy).

It was a good weekend. Even if I wanted to be home a lot earlier than I was.

More To Do

I used to joke with my dad when AAA reports how many people will travel fifty miles or more on any given holiday. It's funny because that's how far we go to work! It's a little ironic, because I have become one of those people. (Ok, it's fifty miles depending on which way I go, if I cut through town, it's about forty miles.)

Since we didn't get to kayak yesterday, we met up with Fox and Queen Anne and got a good forty minute paddle in. It was considerably short compared to what we normally do, but the current was swift, and we were getting tired quickly. It was drizzling rain while we were loading, and then it downright rained while we were out. I actually really enjoyed kayaking in the rain. It was new, at least. I probably could have gone a little further, but it would have resulted in a headache later.

After we were done and cleaned up (and dry!), mom and I hit the stores for our shopping, then the salon for some work, then to the awesome liquor store next door, then to the house again for packing. I was trying to go home tonight, but I didn't get much together. See, there are still things that I can bring with me, mostly to flesh out the condo (like books) and projects to work on (like fabric, paint, my wood burner and rotary tool, that kind of thing). Mom decided she wanted to see Get Smart, so we'll go when she gets back from visiting my grandmother. And I'll do some more packing.

Been A While

I can't remember the last time I was able to watch Independence Day fireworks. It's been at least five years. If it wasn't for rain or colds, it was because I had to get up early the next morning for work. This year, there is no work tomorrow. We got to watch fireworks!

We wanted to kayak, but things happened during the course of the day that made that a no go, including lovely thunderstorms that made a lot of people think fireworks were cancelled.

In the evening, mom, dad, and I met Fox for dinner (poor Fae wasn't feeling well). Then Fox's AssMan joined us and we took a nice long walk to several public beaches in Eastport before settling on one that was less crowded and we thought would offer a good view. For reasons of crowd, we decided not to go into Annapolis.

We picked a good beach, and it didn't get really crowded until the fireworks actually started. After the storms passed through, the air was quite still.

We know a little now for next year, when we're really going to try to kayak and view from our boats. Maybe I won't get eaten alive by sandflies next year.

Paul Simon Knows the Tune

It's been a long, long day
I got some run-down shoes
Ain't got no place to stay
But any old place will be okay
It's been a long, long day

I sure been on this road
Done nearly fourteen years
Can't say my name's well known
You don't see my face in Rolling Stone
But I sure been on this road

Slow motion
Half a dollar bill
Jukebox in the corner
Shooting to kill
And it's been a...

It's been a long, long day
I sure could use a friend
Don't know what else to say
I hate to abuse an old cliche
But it's been a long, long day
Its been a long, long day

Dates Approach

Since I started kayaking, I've wanted to kayak somewhere and watch fireworks from my boat. Somewhere, like Annapolis, where people gather on the docks to watch the fireworks over the water. I want to be floating there, watching from the water.

It's been hard to watch fireworks at all in the few years past, because the 4th has been on a weekday, and I couldn't stay up late enough to see anything. Firework displays started after my bedtime. But this year, it's Friday! No work the next day means we can actually watch fireworks this year! While I'd prefer to be in my kayak, as I've been wanting to do for so long, if I just go somewhere to watch, that will be fine too. My parents know what I'd like to do, I'm not sure if they're on board or not. I know I've talked about wanting to do this quite a bit.

And this year, there had better be no jerk rear-ending my car like last year. That made for a really sucky holiday.

No matter the plan, I'll be heading to my parents' house late Thursday. We may get out on the kayaks on Friday(or Saturday, or Sunday) and we may not. Whatever happens, I hope we see some pretty fires in the sky.

Beyond Swamped

Oozing with work. Yes, oozing is a good word. And not oozing very fast either. That's why I'm still surrounded in a pulsating pile of puss. And it keeps growing as if I didn't have enough of it.